Disc Wheels vs Spoke Wheels

[PremierAndrew]

You can tell that it's slightly harder to handle your bike when you're using disc wheels, especially on the front wheel, but they are more aerodynamic than spoke wheels. But does anyone know what exactly makes disc wheels more aero, and why exactly any jolts from the road/other riders feel more pronounced when riding with disc wheels?

 

[AJ101]

You can tell that it's slightly harder to handle your bike when you're using disc wheels, especially on the front wheel, but they are more aerodynamic than spoke wheels. But does anyone know what exactly makes disc wheels more aero, and why exactly any jolts from the road/other riders feel more pronounced when riding with disc wheels?

With regards to the jolts, typically the spokes in a spoked wheel have a certain degree of flex in them that will dampen any (some) road vibration. On older style bikes this was even noticeable between high flange and low flange hubs where high flanged meant there was shorter and consequently less forgiving spokes.

The drag co-efficient of solid aero wheels takes a bit more describing and others can do that better than I can!

Regards
Tony.

 

[42x16ss]

The solidity of a disc wheel (or solid carbon 3/4 spoke wheel) gives it a less forgiving ride than a spoked wheel. As AJ101 said above, spoked wheels have more give, especially high spoke count wheels where the spoke tension can be a lot lower.

The most common theory with discs regarding aerodynamics is that there is less turbulence around the wheel due to the lack of spokes. There is recent research suggesting that certain shapes of deep dish rim may be just as aero though.